Switcheroo
by Icebrownie
Summary: Secret identities, false names and replicas are bound to create massive confusion. /as it did in the main story/ Add more Jade intervention to the equation and chaos is born.
1. Monster Dad of Three

**Switcheroo**

**NB: I want to try a different type of narration. Imagine that someone is reading a story book to an audience. That is the kind atmosphere I shoot for. I want to start the story fresh rather than retelling the events that the readers have read before. (i.e. The kidnapping fiasco)This type of narration only applies to introductions though.

* * *

The story starts off with the narrator mentioning that Asch has three prominent memories in his short life.

Stairs.

Jade.

Chilly darkness.

These three seemingly unrelated things recur in his dreams frequently. The dream starts off with him running. He is always running from something or someone. He can never figure out what he is running away from. Perhaps he is afraid to see the pursuer. After running, he will reach a flight of stairs. Jade stands on the top of the stairs with older man uncharacteristically reaching out to him. When he reaches for the handrail, darkness and cold envelops everything in his dream. Then he awakens.

For ten years of his life, this dream recurs on a totally random basis. If he succumbs to the fallacious reasoning of the slippery slope, he will blame the dreams for his random headaches. But he doesn't. If anything, Jade's "parenting" made sure he thinks logically.

Now that the parenting issue is on the spotlight, I might as well clarify the issue. Upon meeting Jade, one can easily deduce that he does not deal with children. He was cold, calculative and sarcastic to boot. Not exactly a parenting type of person. However, Jade's infamous demeanor does not change the fact that he has three adopted children; from a Daathian orphanage to be more specific. It has been said that the reason for the adoption was to expand the dwindling line of the Curtiss family.

Well, that is the cover story anyway. The adoptive "children" knew better.

_Or so they think._


	2. Sacred Fire Picking

A cloaked figure stealthily climbs up pass the guards of Upper Kimlasca. The feat is easy enough. None of the guards are paying attention. Even if they do stop her, her "badge" will take care of the questioning. The training made the job harder than it is. In practice, all she has to do is keep her hood from falling off.

After a couple of twists and stairs, she finally makes it to the front door of her target. She sucked in a deep breath to prepare herself. In this part of the mission, every single move must be perfect. She checks her surroundings and set out to move.

She sings the first verse. The guards at the main door drop to the floor. She dashes through doors and hallways as her hymn knocks down unknowing servants and guards. Much to her amazement, some of the servants are able to withstand her hymns; albeit for a couple of seconds. One old man in particular is able to clutch the hems of her cloak and somewhat reveal her face. The man's eyes widen for a second then unconsciousness prevails.

By the time she reaches the courtyard, her fonons are depleted by half. She stops singing. Judging from lack of scuffling in the yard, her target is ready for her. Ambush is already out of option. She huffs at the slight complication. One of the servants probably alerted the other guards.

_If only sound can pass through the walls… _

She takes her staff out and walks beside a glass window. She stretches her arm with the staff and uses it to open the door. When the door creaks open, she jumps through the window. The slight diversion is all she needs. As she jumps through the window, she sees two guards quickly attacking to the direction of the door. Even if they see her, the sheer force of their action will not allow them to quickly turn around.

Luckily, her target is looking in the same direction as the guards. She sings once again as she quickly creeps toward her oblivious target. She can see her target's eyes becoming glassy by the second.

That is _not_ what she wants to happen.

She stops singing once she reaches her target's side. He is somewhat conscious, but not enough to cause a threat. She touches his arm, hoping for the reaction to occur. There is no change whatsoever.

Curse you, Dist.

Not wanting to waste more time, she hooks her target's arm to her shoulder and she drags him to the opposite exit. Just for safety measure, she throws Dist's invention on to the ground. It creates a large cloud of smoke; almost filling half of the courtyard. However, the moment she threw the invention, she felt a pang of pain erupting from her thigh. She looks at her thigh and finds an arrow lodged there. She looks up the courtyard and finds the assailant smirking. The assailant thinks the arrow is enough to impede her escape.

Careful not to arouse suspicion from her naïve attacker, she takes a dagger from her other thigh. She then throws it squarely to the person responsible for her injury. The dagger would have been lethal; that is, if her previously unconscious target is unconscious. For some reason, he flailed around his sword. The sudden burst of energy is enough to initiate the hyperresonance.

Finally, she is off to point C. Dist is somewhat useful after all.

* * *

Laughs my attempt at changing the scenes. Sadly, the chapter had to be done. There were fundamental hints sprinkled throughout, but it was in the subtle side.

Pardon the mistakes in grammar, spelling and the like. I am quite horrible at editing.


	3. Musings of the Hopelessly Ignorant

Asch thought that the act of caring was a tiring notion. He wished for a fonon switch that "turns on" or "turns off" sympathy; it would make not giving a damn so much easier. But it didn't exist. Then came a time when compassion corroded his will to not give a damn.

Luckily or Unluckily, Jade was not around to jest when he started his sympathy driven adventure.

* * *

Asch was sent on patrol.

He hated this tedious part of his responsibilities. Sadly, he couldn't skirt around it. His brother was the only person who could take over his shift. Peony had to assign said scapegoat with Palace duty. Actually, Peony practically attached his little brother in the palace for the past month. In fact, he could barely see his brother. Perhaps, the old pervert was simply too attached to the kid. If Jade hadn't adopted the brat, Peony would have gone with kidnapping.

"Sir, the Cheagle forest is in sight," announced by one of his officers.

He looked up and confirmed the report. The forest was indeed a couple of kilometers away. He quickly scanned the place, and it looked fairly safe. Given the fact that it was seven in the morning, he thought that was obvious enough. He was about to bark out more orders when one of his officers bumped straight to him.

The man bowed in a ninety degree angle and apologized for all his worth. Asch didn't exactly listen to his officer's continuous babble. He was far too busy observing the state of his squad. Others were barely awake on their feet. The others clutched their swords as if it were a walking stick.

Damn you pity.

"I will complete the patrols by myself. Bring everyone and _all _the equipment in the barracks. When I check the equipments, it better be in proper order."

Most of the younger recruits showed blatant gratefulness. The more competent ones were ready to question his order. He stared down the forth coming questions. Thus he was left alone, standing in the wilderness.

As he walked toward his destination, he couldn't help but wonder about the reason for his squad's exhaustion. Most likely, the reason for it was new training regimen. He watched over it once, and he was sure Jade had a hand or the mastermind of the exercises. It was brutal, but the results were visible in weeks. It made a newly conscripted soldier to a competent one in such a short time.

Still, the training was demanding at the very best of days. They would end probably end up as causalities if something did come up in the forest. All those training wasted in a little accident.

A question suddenly struck him.

"Why all this training?"

It didn't seem like there was an upcoming war— was there? There were colourful rumours that floated around about Daath. Most of them seemed too obscene to be true. Surely, that could not be a reason for warfare. Besides, it would cause a lot of trouble if Daath participated in a war. They held the score. Most citizens, be it from Malkuth or Kimlasca, would pledge their support to Daath if the territory withheld the score. All sorts of chaos would ensue.

Maybe Kimlasca? For many years that territory had done nothing but to continuously refine their defences. It was possible that the defensive projects were only a ruse. After all, Kimlasca had a strong hold over the development of fonic machines. Belkend and Sheridan could have a hidden project related to fonic weapons. Those cities certainly had the resources and the brains for such a project.

He can't take out the possibility that Malkuth is the one preparing to invade the other territories.

His head started to feel a prickling sensation the more he thought about the "impending" war. There were too many variables to account; none of which he could verify.

Such incidence pointed to two people. Jade seemed to make sure he knew as less as possible in regards to the state of warfare in the world. In addition to that, Peony had the authority to make sure Jade's plans ran uninterrupted. The two on one combo guaranteed that a wealth of information was withheld from him. He only had insignificant bits from the few who mindlessly let their tongue slip. He hated being treated like an ignorant child. The only remedy he could think of was to confront the said secretive bastards.

With his newly concocted remedy in mind, Asch set out to complete his mission as quickly as possible.

His headache remains though.

* * *

The same from the previous chapter still applies. Actually, it applies to all chapters o 3 o


	4. Playhouse with the God Generals

II – Assailant

The Cheagle Forest was huge. He could have taken five soldiers with him and the patrol would have taken half the time. To be specific, the whole morning and half of the afternoon was spent to complete the rounds. Well, not exactly. He also scared away the Ligers that pestered the nearby town. The fighting took a chunk out of the afternoon hours. He spent those hours inside a dingy cave devoid of sunlight. Dear Yulia, he could actually _feel_ filth seeped through his uniform.

And his damned headache still wouldn't budge. At one point, the pain spiked up so much he almost blacked out. Due to the same pain, he was awarded with a monster claw on his arm. He healed it fully, but the place still itched afterwards. He was not having a good day.

Lashing out all his vented anger to his dear "guardians" will probably make his day a little brighter.

He dusted off his uniform and started his walk out of the forest. Along the way, he faced little to no resistance from the monsters; it made him suspicious. Someone else was in the forest. The rather obvious lack of monsters indicated that rather than someone, a lot of _someones_ visually cleared the monsters. His current shape was not good for multiple confrontations. He promptly chose the safest exit of the forest.

Asch was hidden by a large brush when he spotted the exit. At the mouth of it, he saw a strangely familiar kid strolling inside the forest. It was odd. Asch could not explain the familiarity. Furthermore, said little kid had no visible weapon, or guardians around him. Judging from his frail looks, a swarm of cheagels could probably knock him down to the ground. Still, the Daathian insignia hung from his neck. The kid could be one of the God Generals. Last time he heard, there were two of them.

Right?

Or else, he would not stroll around defenceless inside a forest infested with monsters. That was just moronic.

Asch looked more carefully; the second time around, he saw a monster hidden about a meter away from the prancing kid.

_"You're a God General, right?"_

The brat kept on walking toward the monster.

_"It's a tactic, right?" _

Half a meter away.

_"You are planning on attacking, right?"_

Yulia be damned. The kid had to be blind.

Asch dashed from his hiding spot to save the little kid. His muscles ache from the sudden pulling but he slashed the monster in the right time. When adrenaline wore off, his arse fell squarely on the ground. He was drained._ Patrolling. Fighting. Sprinting_. He could only accomplish so much.

_Damn you sympathy. I hope you drop to that so called Qliphoth and cease to exist._

"Uhhmn. Can I ask for your assistance?"

He stared at the kid. The guts of- Wait. Now that he was right in front of the familiar kid, he finally figured out the familiarity. He could _not_ believe it himself. The kid looks exactly like his brother, Sync. Although, the aura he emitted was completely different. This kid's posture screamed utter brittleness and fragility. It was like this kid sucked in all the delicateness out of Sync.

"Master Ion!"

A girl came rushing from nowhere toward the kid. She was tinier than her so called master and she was holding a bunch of stuff toys to boot. She also had a Daathian insignia choker. This girl had to be a God General. As impossible as it may seem, she had to be one. The Daathian army cannot consist of more children.

"Ahh, A- Arietta. What happened with your excursion with Anise? Wasn't it supposed to take a few hours... days even?" Ion fidgeted under her intense gaze but he continues with his rather obvious ruse.

"Excursion?!" the Arrietta-girl exclaimed. From Asch's point of view, it was the wrong thing say.

"You mean to say distraction, correct? You both ordered us to look for Tear, and then you pulled a vanishing act. I wasn't even able to read my mission's specifications because of you," she sneered and stopped talking. She then pointed her finger to her companion's forehead. She dabbed it in the same spot until it turned red.

"But the cheagles were being accused of thievery. There must be a reason for it!"

At that point Asch knew he was ignored. He stood up to regain a semblance of dignity and interruptted the children's banter.

"The problem was taken care of," Asch said. He was satisfied that he captured their attention. "I don't wish to offend, but I don't think it is appropriate to be concerned with affairs outside Daathian territory."

Arietta pulled Ion behind her after the moment Asch spoke. She lowered her stance and looked prepared to fight.

_She is a God General, alright._

"Who is this man?" she asked her unworried companion.

A look of embarrassment flashed in Ion's face. He gently moved Arietta's arms to stand in front of Asch.

"Thank you for saving me earlier. Uhmnn…" Ion trailed on as he waited for his saviour to introduce himself.

"Just be careful next time," Asch said and ignored the Ion's friendliness. Asch then looked at the God General and spoke to her, "Do you think you are going to need an escort?" To be honest, Asch did not want to offer help. He was simply being courteous; Nephry made sure he had proper manners.

Arietta's face brightened up, "We'd _love_ too. We still have to travel to Kaitzur, and we'll need all the hands we can get."

The sudden change of heart was suspicious. She was ready to pounce on him not a minute ago. Now, she would "love" his help. Then again, her request was actually reasonable. Her companion seemed useless in a fight. And he did offer them his help…

_"There goes my chance at lashing out."_

_"_Let me send a message," Asch turned and took out a fonic device. He wasn't going to ask permission per say. As a form of childish revenge, he sent the message to Sync. By the time Sync read the message, Asch will be a day away from Malkuth capital. By then, his damned guardians will not be able to stop him. And most importantly, he will finally have an unsupervised vacation. All in all, the entire trip was beneficial for him. Not taking the repercussions into account, of course.

Asch clicked the fonic device shut and faced his new companions, "Well, let's get to it."

A moment after that, a liger pounced on him instead of little Arietta. As his shitty luck would have it, the liger that attacked him was the same Liger that he tried to scare away. The monster came to bite him in the ass quite literally.

Asch's vision went straight to Ion after he dodged the combined attacks of artes and claws. He didn't want to be deceived by yet another seemingly harmless child. Much to his expectation, Ion was on the side completely looking aghast as to what was happening. Thankfully, he had one less person to consider fighting.

He dodged endlessly for a solid minute. He could handle dodging, but he could not find a window for an attack. The Liger was always on his back right after he got away from Arrietta's artes. Fed up with the lack of progress, he let an art graze him on the side. It halted Arrietta for a second then he took his chance. His sword was inches away from the stunned girl, when a mace derailed his attack.

"This is so sad. You can't even disable mister do everything-by-myself," a person— no more like another _child_, cackled from behind him.

Asch spared a second to confirm his assumption. And yes, another adolescent girl joined in the fray. In his frustration he said, "What is with Daath and children?!"

The newly added foe strained his dodging abilities to the limit. Her attacks were erratic; thus effectively making her doll weapon look close to demonic. In addition, Arietta sent more fonic artes at his direction. There seemed to be a competition between the two girls and the goal was to maim him first.

Eventually, his concentration slipped and the pet Liger was able to swipe his weapon arm. The arm was still functional, but it bled profusely; further movements would aggravate injury to a bloodier mess.

He succumbed to the thought that he had no chance of winning the fight. The day was a long one, and he was close to feeling faint. He had no choice but to play dead. They'll need to wait for an escort to drag him where ever; Well, that was under the assumption that they were going to drag him of course. The attackers didn't seem to have the intention to kill him outright and the demon doll girl said disable; so his optimistic assumption could be true. He still had a chance to escape.

After a considerable and convincing resistance, he allowed the demonic doll to take a swipe at his abdomen. He almost heaved bile from the impact. He completely under estimated the punch of that demonic doll. Then, he lied on the grassy land of the Valley motionless and eyes closed. He hoped his acting was sufficient.

"Arietta, Anise! What is this?"

Asch heard them speak, but their voices were barely coherent. He heard something about orders and the _other one_—whatever it was—being captured. Then, he heard steps moving closer to him.

"As for this guy, I have to make sure he's completely knocked out."

Asch panicked and almost dodged the oncoming attack. But it didn't come. Instead, someone pulled his non-injured arm to the side and placed a velvety weight on top of it. He tried to subtly pull his arm away, but it wouldn't budge.

"Sheesh, here you go. I get to subdue him and he doesn't get hurt."

* * *

I switched the tenses from present to past. There might be some itty present tense left.

As for the story confusion, eer it was intentional? The chapters overlap and will bridge together... eventually. The past will glue the plot together buuut, I don't want to post the past arc in one chapter. It'll be inserted when the opportunity arises.


	5. Bait, Line and Sinker

Legretta patrolled the cathedral with feline grace. From her walk she could see the place was as peaceful as it could get. The patrons were going in and out quietly after their daily score visits. The ones who would stay to gossip in the reception area were off gossiping some place else. If not for absence of her favourite student, she would actually enjoy the silence. Such opportunities were taken from her for almost a week and half.

She sent Tear to complete her first mission as a Sergeant two weeks ago. The mission was easy all preparations on her part considered. Still, the margin for error was slim. She trusted Tear was capable handling such matters. She was after all, one of the best soldiers that she had; three of her God Generals included.

The woman's musing was disturbed when a messenger blocked her path. The soldier gave her a salute and delivered his message.

"Commandant Legretta, the second pace has been completed. Sergeant Grants is in the lower quarters with the prisoner."

She nodded in acknowledgement and dismissed the soldier.

It took all of her self control not to run directly to the head quarters of the Order. Legretta had to hear every detail of her mission. If her best student had problems with her mission, it could only indicate that Legretta's preparations were insufficient. At this stage of her plan, that was one of the last things she wanted to occur.

She knocked once to announce her presence and opened the door fully. Inside, she found Tear in a in a kneeling position beside the other resident of the room. As the older woman closed the door behind her, she recognized that her student was fully absorbed to her patient. The trance was deep enough that she completely disregarded the sickening purple injury on her thigh. The arrow that caused the injury was even lodged quite firmly in place. Legretta could only scoff at the blatant abandonment of healing protocols.

"Didn't I advise you to take care of yourself before others?" Legretta inquired. Tear nodded toward the door's general direction and continued with the healing her patient.

"The arrow was poisoned and none of the antidotes I had in my kit were effective," replied Tear to the general direction of the door.

If Legretta had to guess the arrow was meant to incapacitate, not to kill. Her opponents retained their foolishness after all. Satisfied with Tear's response, Legretta moved on with the mission briefing.

"What happened to him?" the older woman then glared the unconscious figure on the floor.

"I, ahh—," she started with slight hesitance. "In all honesty, I am not quite sure myself." Tear made sure not to meet Legretta's eyes when she spoke, "When I awoke, he was already injured"

She lied.

Moments before she was fully conscious, she saw him in a fight against the neighboring monsters. As much as she was puzzled, it seemed as though he fought to _protect_ her. His swordsmanship was nothing short of novice, but he managed to fend off most of the monsters. Take away commendable effort of the act and what remained was a boy in a mangled state.

"Most likely he was injured because of the unexpected resonance."

_Another lie, but she needed to make her earlier lie believable._

"I see. Go to the room next to this one. I will send a fonist to tend to your injury," Legretta said unaware that her favorite student lied to her through and though.

"But, I am not done healing his injuries," she protested.

"Let him bleed."

Legretta then walked farther into the head quarters. The _other_ target was brought in four days prior. She wanted to pay a visit earlier but she wanted an unquestionable alibi. She pretended to conduct a search party for the supposedly missing Fon Master; With her squad and the whole Daathian Territory as her witness, she had a rock solid alibi. Not a single person could possibly relate her to the sudden disappearance of a certain Malkuthian captain.

Legretta casually walked towards her other target. He was in the most secluded dungeons Daath could offer. She clicked the door open and observed the prisoner. Unlike the other one, he was in a less bloody state. She then noticed the unusual motion of his arm hovering over his shoulder. Yulia be damned, the bastard was _healing_ himself. In a spur of rage, she shot the same spot. The bullet glinted gloriously in the middle of the newly opened wound.

The kid persisted and continued to heal it once more. He knew damn well what pissed her off. Sadistically, she shoved his target's hovering arm to his wound and kept the pressure there. Blood gushed out of the wound and the younger man gagged in pain. He used his other arm to try and pull away the offending hand. His efforts were futile. As a form of final resistance, he looked up at Legretta. The glare on his face would have been threatening if not for his pallor face.

"I see you altered your hair," Legretta spoke casually as she added more pressure to her target's wound. Her gun was ceremoniously placed back in the holster as she intended to grab a handful of his hair. The radical change had a mesmerizing effect on her.

A grunt of pain escaped his lips as more blood cascaded from the new hole on his shoulder. As if the loss from the Cheagle forest was not enough of a challenge. It nearly took him two days before he could fully close the wound on his abdomen. He had to close this new injury immediately. He'd be lucky if he only pass out from the loss of blood. If that didn't happen… well other choices weren't as favourable.

"The last report handed to me detailed that you wouldn't even let anyone touch it."

He looked around for something that could assist in his escape. He had to find _something._ His will to stay conscious was at the point of flickering out. Well, it was either his will or the lights were going out.

"Yet, here you have your previously untouchable hair dyed in black and pulled back with a band. No wonder my subordinates barely recognized you," she went on, ignoring the weakening resistance of her prisoner. "Is it hormones? It probably is."

After a few more grueling seconds, his body outright refused to maintain his feeble resistance. It seemed to tell the prisoner that it was not going to take more abuse. Resistance meant more pressure on his already grave injuries. These said injuries lead to death. As common sense would have it, dying would not do any person good. His body realized this fact quicker than his brain did.

A slap dislodged his train of thoughts.

"Ahh, can't die now," she took her hand off his shoulder and used the same hand to cup his slumped face; Complimentary blood smeared all over it. "You haven't been used to your full potential and, I'll make sure that bastard sees what pent up revenge looks like."

_A woman's vengeance. Nothing can get much worse than that._

He hoped Sync hadn't seen his message. The last thing he wanted was to involve that miserable child in this mess.

"Your hair is fading."

"Again? Dammit. _Dad's _machine is becoming shoddier by the minute."

"Just use the concoction I use. Its stays perm—

"I like my red hair."

* * *

The titles are relevant to the plot.


	6. Ramblings of the Blind

**Planting the Seeds**

Tear was puzzled. No, she encountered a puzzle; A confusing one at that.

The elements of the pieces were a boy, motivation, and her. This was the first time she was included in a puzzle. That reason alone possibly bumped up the difficulty by a notch. She knew herself throughout. Nothing should puzzle her about herself. However, the fact remains that she was related to the puzzle.

Why did a stranger who she attacked, save her from injury?

She assaulted him in the comforts of his home and kidnapped him to boot. Surely her actions would and should provoke hate. The violent reactions of his guards must have informed him of her unwelcome presence. She couldn't remember properly but she probably injured him during the kidnapping fiasco as well. The response to her actions would not be to protect her from harm.

What was the motivation behind it?

Were his actions the result of his upbringing?

He was a crowned prince after all. It was his birth right to be the Kimlasca's future king. Based on the books she'd read, a king was supposed to care for the people. It was highly possible that the need to protect was drilled in his brain. Although the care and defend did not come from him directly, he was the one who ordered it.

_Kings order and soldiers execute it. _

But, the order was to abduct him. The order didn't come from a King, but from Commandant Legretta. Her mentor, had _never_ been wrong before. Therefore, the future Kimlascan "king" before her must have done horrifying things for him to be prisoner of Daath.

_That must be it._

…_.right?_

* * *

**Misled Faith **

On the servant residential wing on Kimlasca's towering castle, a particularly blond servant continued to walk in circles. He shuffled his pockets to ease the worry. A combination of his footsteps and jingling of coins was enough to thin out the patience of the sole resident of the room.

"Gailardia, pacing would not improve the chances of Master Luke's appearance. Please this old man a favour and stop the noise," complained Pere to his anxious companion.

Guy absentmindedly tugged on the collar of his shirt to cover his embarrassment. It had been days since Luke went missing. The kingdom even sent out a large searching party to locate his charge. He'd probably volunteer to participate as well if he had a clue where to start. However, the search party had not seen shadow of the said idiot. What hope did he have if he set out?

He smiled apologetically and went out of the room. Once in the courtyard, his pacing continued and the pace was faster. He pieced together the two things that bothered him about the accident.

The manner the abduction was done.

The brunette hair of the abductor.

He stopped mid step when he came up with a horrific conclusion. The factors were all too similar conjured by a man long dead.

A chill crept up his spine. When he was a child consumed by vengeance, he could remember supporting the plan. He worked at the Fabre mansion at the time. Whenever the White Knights' watch became lax, he would slip out to Daath. Once in the religious continent, he would use secret passages to access the Dathian quarters. There they would meet and the toss ideas to their master plan.

He remembered fondly that a child of his size was able to infiltrate Daathian quarters with ease. As he grew up, the secret passage became narrower and narrower. At one point, he even got stuck in it for days. He was found eventually and jested that he was getting too plump. _He _did not share his amusement. Guy remembered being scolded all the while being stuffed with food. The pleasant memories ended there.

In the end, was told that further uncertainties to the plans were not welcomed. Child Guy was offered an orb to iron out such uncertainties. Once he reached the port at Daath, the orb would lead him directly to his desired head quarters.

Guy shook his to clear up the clutter in his memories. He treasured those last memories he had of that man. The last thing that he wanted to happen now was to taint those memories by reviving that atrocious of a plan. His friend would have never put it into action. Guy believed the passage of time would have seeped the bitterness or revenge away; much like what happened to him.

With a determined look, Guy retrieved the orb. If the old planning room at Daath was left undisturbed, the ghost of the past was simply haunting him. If not, he would stop it with all of his might. His dear friend would have done the same.

* * *

Okay. Maybe some of the chapters were named solely for my own entertainment.


	7. Black Dream, Pulling Strings

A clump black clouds hang overhead the Daathian training field. One of the younger trainees pointed to their officers that rain might pour down. However, one of the officers announced that the score did not predict rain. The trainees were forced to continue their daily training regimen.

Reluctantly, the trainees marched to the practice grounds. Prior to the physical training, some sort of uneasiness already kept the group company. It started early in the afternoon. Their most formidable trainee fainted from exhaustion. All they did in the morning was the fonon control practice. Granted, the trainee who fainted proved to be slightly untalented on that exercise. His performance in the fonon control exercise was better, but overexertion was apparent on his face. Fainting for overexertion was not unheard of, but the cases were few and far in between.

On the group's way to the break room, another one of their companions vanished completely. As their luck would have it, the one who vanished was the one trained in the healing artes. The group traced back their steps all the way to the spot where one of their fellow trainees fainted. Still, they couldn't find their healer. The group was ready to report the missing trainee when a nun silently approached them.

"One of you fellows was called in by the senior. I heard something about healing a fool who got tired from fonon practise," said the nun softly.

Upon hearing the state of their comrade, the group released a collective sigh of relief. Their friend was fine, they were simply being inattentive. They turned to the nun again to offer their thanks, but she was nowhere to be found.

"I saw her turn to that corner," one of them said and pointed to the fork headed to the dungeons. All of them turned and caught a glimpse of a silvery silhouette turn to the dark corner. A swishing sound followed right after. It sounded like a sack of cloth was being dragged across the floor.

Swish. Swish. Swish.

The swishing sound stopped. Every single one of them was quiet. They could practically hear crickets from the distant field. Still, the group's vision was trained on the dark corner where they saw the silver silhouette. They inched their way to the corner when a sound resumed. A different sound from the one before. It was faint and slow at first.

_Tap—_

Then the tempo increased.

_Tap-Tap-Tap_

Suddenly, the sound speed up and became louder. _Closer._ Accompanied by a strange giggle.

_TaptaptaptaPTAPTAPTAPTAPTA—!_

Then the one who pointed out the corner laughed loudly. His comrades jumped back in response. They looked at him as if he had gone insane. The reaction further fueled his laughter.

"You guys are such cowards!" said the guy in between in laughs. The laughing guy lifted his sleeves and revealed a small metal contraption attached to his wrist. He used his long pointing finger, and hit the square part of the contraption. The familiar tapping sound resounded across the hallway and the man resumed his laugh.

Annoyed by the stupid antic of his group mate, one of them tried to take swing whilst the guy still laughed. The punch missed by a huge margin.

"I'm the swiftest out of all you, though you seem to have forgotten that," the man taunted. He pulled back his sleeve and hid the contraption once more. "In fact, I'm going to prove that I am the boldest as well. I shall catch this nun for you and vanquish the fearsome being, my little sheeps."

He gave them a mock salute and headed to the corner to the dungeon.

No one stopped him. They knew the guy who left loved to skip training. The skipping habit briefly stopped when the God Generals caught him on the act. He was punished for it, but the habit resumed later. Nowadays, he would promptly use his speed to return to the field. Sometimes, he would even be the first man of their group to arrive. The remaining eight expected the guy to pop back out before the trainers take note of his disappearance.

Upon reaching the grounds, they found out that the guy was still not there. The trainer typically notices the absence after ten minutes. They thought the guy had plenty of time. The trainer stood in the middle of the field. As they got closer, they noticed that the older man had a scowl on his face.

"How come you are missing three people from your squad?"

The group silently exchanged looks. The one closest to the trainer took the responsibility of speaking.

"Two people are in the sick bay, sir. One of us was too exhausted—

The trainer gave the speaking guy a harsh look and it silenced the guy quickly.

"Do not attempt to make a fool out of me," said the older man sharply. He lifted coat and revealed that his left arm was in a sling. "I came from the sick bay before I came here and I assure you there were no _exhausted_ trainees whilst I was there."

"But Sir, a Nun even told us that our healer was called in to help."

The older man's face scrunched up even further. The annoyance was as prominent as ever.

"Is that the best lie you are able to conjure? You imbeciles should be aware that Nuns are prohibited from entering the head quarters. Fools every single one of you!" he looked at them straight in the eye before speaking again. "Had you spoken up about the oath breakers, I would have kept the punishment isolated to them!"

"Stay here and practise. I will speak to Major Legretta to discuss your punishment," said the man. His tone left no room for objections. Well, the man intended to silence the rule breakers. Still one of them had the guts and squeaked out a protest.

"Stand your ground soldier and do not give me a reason to worsen your punishments."

The eight trainees were alone once again in the slowly retreating sunset in Daath. The group went to practise but their uneasiness grew thicker. Somehow, a random slight ray of light managed to penetrate the clouds, the shadow of the trees seemed to dance. The trainees in the area could not manage to catch a glimpse the moving shadow. The moment their eyes perceive some sort of movement, the environment would stand still. The effect was rather eerie.

"We ought to leave. Preferably now."

"I would gladly take the punishment over this. This day is just – too unnatural."

Every single one of them wanted to return to their private quarters, but none of them dared to walk back in. To go in there, they would have to go through all those dark hallways—which would be darker and even more eerie due to the fading light. The fact that they've lost three of them when there was light was sufficiently unnerving. Who knows what could happen in full darkness?

"We can't stay here!" one panic stricken trainee said. His panic swiftly infected his companions.

"I've seen something moving. This time it wasn't a shadow!" added another. He started to look back and forth the looming forest the door back to the Daathian cathedral.

"There it is again!"

Then the sun finally set. The previously grey field became fiendish black; the area near the forest was blacker still. The only light source came from the door to the cathedral. Even so, the light had a peculiar orange tint to it. The fon stone flickered randomly; it even made some of them jump. Still, no one made a sound. Something was watching them. They felt eyes trained on them, watching their every move.

Then, a familiar sound reached their ears.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

To add to their horror, the sound came from the entrance. The sound became louder—louder than it was in the claustrophobic hallway. They could stare at the door, as fear rooted them on the ground. They heard a door close. And the sound stopped.

"That was him rig—

An inhuman screech stopped the question. Unsurprisingly, the sound came from the door. Abandoning logic, all of the trainees raced for the dark forest. Their mechanical reaction was to just run away from whatever produced that sound.

Three figures emerged from the entranced and all of them were practically bent in half laughing. One of them was unable to contain their laughter that she collapsed on the grassy field.

"Priceless!" she exclaimed as she pounded her fist on to the ground.

The group of three took a minute or so to calm down; calm enough to notice that not one of the trainees came back. The forest ended on a cliff overlooking the Aramis springs. There was only one way back to the city and it was where they were currently standing.

"Uh oh. We might've not calculated their cowardness properly"

"I don't think those children jumped onto the river. Right, Noir?"

The leader of the Dark Wings bit her lip apprehensively, then answered, "There's only one way to figure that out." Though she causally said that, she would rather not deal with eight dead bodies. The cleanup would be impossible given the sensitivity of their current act. When they reached the mouth of the forest, they saw all of the eight trainees unconscious. Noir felt relieved, though her two companions did not share the sentiment.

"Come out, I know you're here," she called out to in the dark forest. No one answered her call. Her employer warned her of this situation. From her thigh utility belt, she took out a small remote control. "Your guardian said to use this to get you to come out!" Then, Noir promptly clicked the sole button on the remote.

_Bzzt!_

A figure then dropped from a tree a couple of feet away from them. The Dark Wings wasted no time and ran toward the area. There they found a boy who awkwardly landed on to the ground.

"Hiya there, Sync."

* * *

Final long winded chapter then, plot will be developed in the following one.

My editing sucks.


	8. Shuffled the Deck and Grabbed a Joker

**A Dip in Seriousness**

Sync huffed as he tried to fit in his so called camouflage. He thought wearing the particular clothing he had on at the moment was rather counterproductive. Not only it was counterproductive, but it completely made him look like a little girl squished in a green potato sack. And for Yulia's sake, they also made him re-dye his hair into that atrocious shade of _green_.

"You look displeased," Noir noted as she eyed the glorified green sack worn by her little companion.

"It doesn't fit well," Sync remarked as he pulled continuously to make the clothing snug more comfortably. His efforts were in vain. "How did you even manage to pilfer these clothing?" he added with disdain.

"Them rookies you knocked dead made it easy peesy. Stalked all eleven since midday and picked off them right off," stated Urushi proudly. The Daathian military was well garrisoned. The fact alone that they were able to enter the premises without trouble was amazing feat by itself.

"Let it be known though that dear Urushi almost messed up the plan. The lazy bastard dragged the sack all over the place," said York whilst he shook his head in mock disappointment.

"I get it, fine. I would even call your abilities admirable for getting these," Sync pinched his clothing for emphasis. "But it would have certainly helped better had you gone and steal one more uniform."

"Look kid, them soldiers not pipsqueak-sized like you are… unless God General clothing is more your thing," added Urushi intending to take teasing to another level.

"We better go. I saw Asch and he was beat up bad," York broke off the pissing contest. "It had been days since then. I doubt he received treatments if not beatings."

The serious look York had made Sync worried. He was confident that his arrogant ass of a brother was highly capable of keeping himself alive. Father dearest's training made sure of that. Then again, Asch had stubbornness akin to a third degree burn. If it kicked in while he was in danger, his stubbornness could prove fatal.

"Okay, no more sneaking. Just do what we told you to do, and we should be able to go where they dumped him," dictated Noir with finality.

Before they put on their disguises, the Dark Wings had supplied Sync their plan to rescue his dumb brother. They spent a grand total of three minutes describing the plan in detail, but all they were supposed to do was walk straight to the cell. No tricks, no special tactics. The amazing part about it was Sync went with it.

Noir led the charge. Her exaggerated strut was replaced with a well-practiced soldier's march. No one would have guessed that she still wore her revealing outfit under the bulky armor. York and Urushi on the other hand, were not able to walk as deceptively. It was fortunate that Noir looked legitimate enough for the three of them. Meanwhile, Sync was safely tucked in the middle of the trio.

They turned to the familiar fork to the dungeons and met their first trial. There were two soldiers who guarded the stairs down to the dungeons. They only paid heed to their presence when the approaching group was on conversing distance.

"Fon master," the soldiers saluted and waited for response.

"The Fon Master wishes to see the prisoner," York announced stiffly from the back.

"But, the Commandant—

"Is not of higher authority than I, correct?" Sync quickly pushed aside Noir as he interrupted. He knew what he acted under pure reckless urges, but the situation called for such rashness. Asch needed help and these bastards were delaying him further. His edginess was also evident his face. The effect seemed to terrify the soldiers.

"I-I'm sorry to offend you, Fon Master. Please go ahead."

The soldiers parted and the passage to the lower dungeons became available. Before the closed off behind them, they heard a hushed coversation between the two guards.

"Ain't he acting all snotty like when he was sick all the time? You know, the time when the whole continent thought he was gunna die in a few weeks."

"How could I forget, I almost got killed during the disposals-

The group walked down silence up until York grabbed Sync by the collar, "Brat, what sort of retardation has gone to your brain? You dare pull a stunt like that when you have no clue as to who you're pretending to be!" said York.

Sync coolly removed York's hand from his collar. He was unfazed by the sudden action of his companion. When he looked back to respond, York had to step back due to sheer intimidation. "I have no clue what Littany told you, but I'm not as _contained_ as my precious brother. We better head on before the other one graces us with his immaculate presence." He then removed the offending hand away from his person and walked ahead.

"You knew about it—about the replication," concluded Noir.

He was a few steps ahead of them. The distance between was enough for him to pretend that he didn't hear the question. Sync offered an answer regardless, "Could be, but Asch is waiting."

The twisted and dark hallway ended with a long flight of stairs. Upon reaching the bottom, the group ended up in the middle of a dim hallway. The last fonon bulb allowed them to see two doors on the opposite sides. The doors were identical and were five feet away from the other. One could say that if the hallway was split into half and it was reflected, the hallway would look the unchanged. Despite that similarity, Sync felt an unfathomable pull toward the door on the left.

"We split," he offered and motioned to the door on the left.

York looked ready to protest, but a quick glance from Noir stopped him. She then threw a small package to the youngest member of their group.

"Fine. When you're done checking the other room, toss this package on the opposite wall of the door. Then ignite it. A path should open up. Figure out what to do from there," explained Noir in her signature pose.

"We gonna do same this as yer, 'cept mine bomb goes boom better," Urushi smirked. He pulled out a larger package from the confines of his armor and smiled a toothier grin.

Sync nodded and they separated.

* * *

**Good Ol' Switcheroo**

The scent that greeted Noir's band upon entering the room was the smell of blood and vomit. A sense of panic rose on all of them. Blood was spilled in the room, but none of them had fonic light device to locate the source of the blood. The sinking feeling became worsened until York tripped.

His eyes finally adjusted to the darkness and saw that he tripped on a leg— Asch's leg! His companions realized the same thing and rushed to his side. They saw his garbs stained with blood. Even his face, hair— everything was coated by it.

Urushi hurriedly pulled Asch to carry him, but a choking sound stopped him. He looked at the battered young man and saw his eyes opening.

"Good evenoon, Sir Grumpy," Urushi said in a strained sing song voice.

"T-trap," muttered Asch. His voice was course and it barely reached Urushi.

York moved in, his eyes completely adjusted to the darkness. He assessed the injury of their young charge. His clothing was tattered to the point that he couldn't even recognize it.

"That's why I'm hauling you right now. So stop choking."

Asch weakly pointed to his neck and suddenly, he was choking harder.

York realized that a loop chain on Asch's neck restricted his mobility. Upon further inspection, the skin under the sadistic collar looked chaffed and raw. He tried to tug the chain out but Asch stopped him.

"Another one… on.. other side."

"Let me, I'll melt the chain." Noir swatted both of her companions aside and pulled out a small fon stone. She had to be careful to reduce the contact of the stone to the neck of their rescuee. She knew the burn wouldn't be appreciated on top of the little one's injury. To make her working condition worse, an alarm blared all over the head quarters.

"Damned Littany. She coulda warned me about how fast that bitch's networks are," Noir muttered angrily as she worked. It felt like a couple of seconds later but a door already banged open near their vicinity. Out of options, she looked at the suffering young man.

"Hun, this is going to _wee_ bit painful."

She directly put the fon stone to the metal chain. The process became faster in expense of the metal heating up next to his skin. She was almost done when the chain from the other side was yanked forcibly. It cut off the remaining chain faster but their charge paid for it with his consciousness. Shortly after that, an explosion came from the other room.

"Brat's reckless! Coulda killed his bro with that," Urushi said as he secured Asch on his shoulder. Once he was sure their sleeping beauty wouldn't fall, he threw his set of explosives to the wall.

"Well, he had the right idea," and the trio plus one dead to the world baggage set off.

* * *

**Peek-a-Past**

The dust settled on the ground and revealed their exit. Well, the exit looked more like a hole more than anything. So much for a clean escape. He bent down to retrieve his brother –thankfully he remained dead to the world. He shoved a handful of gels to the other's mouth but it didn't illicit a response. At the very least he got to him before death did.

Careful not to pressure the fresh looking gun wound, Sync jumped down to their escape hole.

Ever since he set out, all he encountered was a sad string of misfortune. He racked his brain for a relatively lucky occurrence that happened to him recently and could think of none. He literally had to swim to a ferry that set off just to get away from the Grand Chokmah. It worsened from there on. He looked back at his brother and sighed. If he had shitty luck, his brother had it worse. If they combine their seemingly rotten luck, Slyph knows how that would end up. He'd rather not be on Daath whenever that happens.

Foremost, they had to get away fast without being seen by a soul. They currently wore their original hair colour. He got chill from solely imagining the pandemonium that would ensue should anyone catch a glimpse of their faces.

He chanced to take a look behind, hoping that some luck would lead the band of thieves in their direction. No such luck, apparently. What was behind him was a trail of blood. Ah, the train of misfortune already stared. There was no way he could escape unassisted. He traced their steps back and found a four way split. He chose the one that he hadn't gone to before.

He started to feel unsettled from the lack of presence of their pursuers. Maybe the thieves were caught? If that was the case… _fantastic_. They could produce some kind of distraction. He had time to derail the trail of blood. First of all, he had to hide his brother safely. He reached the end of the corridor and found himself fa a line of rooms.

There were no less than 8 rooms in area. He cared not to count more accurately. This was the best spot that he saw for the past minutes—hours? – as a hiding spot and he was too tired to look for others.

"This would have to do," Sync grumbled and then he randomly chose a door.

The first one was a storage room. From the ceiling to the floor, the room was filled with stacked barrels. There were some that collapsed with age and its contents were scattered on the ground. He looked briefly to identify what it was. They seemed to be a rock which he lacked the geologic knowledge to specifically identify. Other than that, the room lacked the space to hide anything. He exited the room and reached for the door to the left.

The second one had a line of beds. It looked untouched for the past couple of years. There were several pens and paper scattered indiscriminately all over the place. On the farthest corner, he saw a pile of children's blocks stacked on top of each other. The room was the perfect place to hide his brother in. However, the sight raised an unnatural vehemence from within him. He could not and would never want to go back in there. He shut the door behind him.

He reached for the third one and signs of enemies closing in on them were audible. He was really pushing his time and he had to erase the bloody track. Damn, he was close to reaching his threshold of pure exhaustion. He threw a quick glance and saw that the room was a simple office. The large desk on the back should inconspicuous enough for his brother to hide in.

He shoved the chair away from the desk. He then carefully stuffed his brother under it. There was a small gap at the front of the table and he had to make sure not to over push. If not, Asch's foot would just stick out and that ruined the whole point of hiding. Then, he placed the chair back in its original position to make the room appear untouched.

"Keep your ass hidden. I'm not sure I can afford a second round trip," ranted Sync to his unresponsive brother. He went to the door and glanced back. Unsatisfied with the way he was going to leave, Sync pulled out his remaining supplies. He took out one apple gel for himself and rolled the rest of the pouch under the desk.

"That should be enough to make you _not useless_. I used my allowance for that, better pay me back you idiot."

That was it. There was nothing else he could do. He took a deep breath and took off.

First thing he did was slice his palm to create a new trail of blood. He smeared the blood across the eight rooms. He created an obvious trail leading to the end of the hall. Satisfied with the trail, he threw the last explosive that Urushi had given him onto the wall. A new passage leading to the lower floors opened up.

He continued the blood trail as he ran farther and farther away from his brother's location. He continued to run nonstop and _boy_, was he getting to that kind of tired. All he had seen so far were dark hallways and occasional dead ends. Maybe he was being paranoid, but the temperature seemed to raise the darker the passages became.

Desperate for a change of scenery, he scrambled to find a relatively bright passage. He would even prefer if he saw a shadow or two. At _least _there would be light to produce the shadows. He knew looking for a light source would have the same effect as pegging an alarm to his person that announced his presence. Still, he needed a change of views. He could already feel the anxiety clawing his insides. Luckily, a well light passage presented itself to him. The catch was the room connected to the passage was abnormally bright. Well, he did ask for brightness and took a peak.

What he saw was the huge room where he started his venture. Unlike the time when he was escorted by Noir, the room was filled with soldiers of all shape and sizes. Most importantly, the exit that led to the lower Cathedral floor was just in sight. The only hindrances were the presence of about a hundred soldiers. There was also blond figure at the front who looked ready to kill.

_Should I risk it?_

His knowledge of the Daathian headquarters was foggy at best. In fact, the only exit that he knew was the one he used earlier. Given the fact that he still wore the Fon Master garb, he had a chance to get away without suspicion. After exiting this damned building, he could call for back up. Although the confrontation between the two nations might spark an international dispute, should he get to that point.

_Who the hell in Auldrant cares? Sure it isn't me. _

He was getting away and coming back for Asch.

A step away from the open room and an_ issue_ struck him hard. Once he escaped and grabbed back up, there was a chance that whoever abducted Asch would reveal that certain issue. They could even announce the abduction as a retribution for being a heretic. Given the choice between believing an unknown kid and the commandant of Daath, who would the higher ups believe? Jade would, but then politics was whole new level of mess he cared not to dabble on.

"There's another short cut gone," Sync muttered. He went back in the confines of the dark corridors in defeat. Unbeknown to him, someone persistent saw his exit.

* * *

**Worm in the Rotten Apple**

The commander of the third division of the Oracles Knights, Arietta spotted her troublesome Fon Master.

"There he is!" the girl exclaimed quietly to her liger buddy. She named him Ace on a whim. Although the naming was random on her part, it was smart naming. It'd be idiotic to bestow a long name especially when she needed to call it in the middle of battle. _Some _didn't share the exact logic.

She crept closer to the entrance wary of the commandant's sharp vision. If by some unfortunate occurrence that she was spotted, Legretta would make her join in whatever caused the commotion in the headquarters. That wouldn't work at all. She had a duty as a Fon master guardian. Since Ion was the most important figure in Daath, finding Ion was the priority. Yes, the decision was completely logical.

In all fairness her decision was more than logical. She had a nasty gut feeling that Ion would end up in the middle of the whole mess. He had a penchant in associating himself in matters that were not related to him. Whether it was innocent or intentional association, she really didn't care at this point. Besides, his spontaneity made her days less of a chore.

She was inside the corridor and she expected to find Ion to linger in the general vicinity. Much to her surprise she heard faint clack clack of boots. As she listened more carefully, it seemed to be hurried steps further in the dungeon. Well, that's not good. Of all the places that piqued Ion's interest, it had to be the one that Legretta didn't want people going into. If her memory served her correctly, the very same place led to Mount Zaleho. That's not good at all. She didn't think Ion to be incompetent, but didn't want to take chances. She got on Ace's back and they chased on.

The place got darker and hotter at the same time. Her recollection was accurate but it didn't help by any means. Breathing became more difficult due to the heat of the volcano. This fact didn't impact her as much since she didn't ran. Ion did and he ran the fastest she had ever seen him run. The lack of oxygen should have made him dizzy at this point, but he didn't stop or slow down at all. He even ran faster the closer she got to him.

Something was up and interest wasn't it. She urged Ace to run faster. They were getting worrisomely close to the volcano. As they reached the final turn to the volcano's exit, she caught a glimpse of—

_That was not Ion, and yet the face was similar. _

His welcoming look was replaced with challenging eyes. It looked dangerous. Unnerving. She didn't like it one bit. Although, it did remind her of… She shook the thoughts away. Thinking about the past at the moment was not fruitful. She had to know why an impostor had Ion's garbs.

The door that led to the volcano was thrown wide open. Ace didn't have problems getting past it but he had to slow down due to the immense heat and steam from the volcano. When the steam subsided, she saw the imposter hovered by the end of the cliff. He looked straight ahead and paid no heed to her presence. She observed further and noticed that her prediction was correct. The impostor was swaying dangerously on the edge due to fatigue and limited amount of oxygen. She too could feel her breathing to be increasingly restricted.

She quietly inched closer. The drive to reconfirm that the impostor was an actual impostor pushed her on. She had seen an illusion that was all. There was no way, one of _them_ survived. Van was thorough in his work and Legretta mimicked his effort in thoroughness. She was only a few steps behind of him. There was no way—

A burst of steam halted their advance. The impostor turned swiftly and met eyes once again with Arietta.

_This was another Ion._

She reached out to him and to validate his existence. Maybe, the steam was screwing with her vision. She had to get closer. She was an arm's length away. The look in Ion's eyes was filled with unadulterated horror. Then she tried to grab him and touched air. A second of confusion crossed her mind. Did she really imagine all of it? The footsteps, the chase, the unadulterated horror on his face. Then another possibility crossed her mind.

_No. It can't be. It was all made up. _

Before Arietta could issue an order, Ace lunged toward the cliff. A nightmare of a vision greeted her; Ion was plummeted head first toward the fiery pool of lava. Ace used the rocky side of the cliff and increased his descent. Before Ace was able to reach Ion, his leg hit a jagged stone on the cliff. It slowed down his fall, but the impact made a sickening noise. Arietta ignored the sound and reached as far as she could. She was going to make it this time. She took hold of his sleeve while Ace grabbed loose clothing using his fangs.

The sudden change of weight made Ace's flight unstable. He landed sloppily on the closest islet. In turn, Arietta slid off his back and landed on the ground. She had a sore scratch on her elbow but she ignored it altogether. She rushed beside Ion to check the extent of his injuries. There were scratches here and there due to his collision with the Cliffside. The one injury that frightened her the most was his broken leg. It was bent in unnatural angle. Thankfully, Ion wasn't conscious to feel the pain but he won't be unaware for it much longer. She had to set the bone back.

A lick to the side of her face provided a distraction from her grim thoughts. She felt as if Ace was apologizing for all that happened. She buried her face in his fur and let herself sob a little. She was seeing his death happen all over again. Maybe it wasn't her Ion, but the look of pain in his face was too much to bear. He already suffered enough and yet the scored seemed to find ways to attach misfortune to his life.

She haphazardly wiped the tears off her face and forcibly stopped her sobbing. She couldn't afford to waste time. There was an important person in great need of medical attention. Pessimistic thoughts would only worsen the condition he was in. All the focus should be barring the score from screwing with Ion's life. She would stop it right now by escaping and getting him the hell away from Daath. Everything else after that would be up for grabs.

All of this would start once she set his leg bone. The start of her new journey was tough, but a start nonetheless.

By the time Arietta escaped the fiery clutches of Mount Zaleho, a tinge of blue was present in the sky. The consolation for that was no one was able to track them down. When some soldiers had closed in on them, she had to send out Ace as a distraction. She could only hope that her friend would be able to keep them occupied for as long as she needed.

Without the mobility provided by her loyal friend, she plunged deep into desperation. The number of people who could help her would be limited to her squad. Actually, she couldn't expect much help. Daathian soldiers were spineless cowards when it came with confrontations with Legretta. In all fairness, the commandant was a psychotic nut. If she weren't a God General, she'd cower the same way.

That alone slashed her escape options to a single person in the whole Daathian continent. It made her sad, but her lack of interest in socialization put her in this mess. She always preferred the company of ligers or even animals. Ion was included as well. Other than those precious beings, she hated interaction without a purpose in mind. Things like idle talk and gossip were things she avoided whenever humanly possible. Of course, there were times when speaking was not avoidable. She spent those times almost exclusively to one person, colleague or Rem forbid, a _friend_?

The person she described was Anise and that feisty bitch was her final hope. Fondly speaking, their fights were akin to sibling rivalry. She hadn't really hated Anise as a person, but she despised her attempts at taking Ion away from her. She could see that Ion was displeased by their estrogen driven pissing match, but she couldn't help it. Anise tended to be a selfish hoarder for Ion's attention and she wanted to be in Ion's presence as well. Combine those two people in a room and rest assured jealousy would flare.

Jealousy, rivalry and hatred aside, Anise was the closest person she had as a friendly associate. They both devoted their lives to Ion. She should understand. By helping her, Anise would help Ion in a lopsided sense. If anything, they were amiable enough to provide help if required by the other.

She crouched lower to blend in the shadowy interiors of the cathedral. Her impossibly pink locks made the job all the more demanding, but she could handle it. Maybe her affinity with the shadow element was helping her? If so, she was gonna need more assistance. To reach the portal to Anise's private room, she had to cross the bridge overlooking the cathedral. When she took a peek earlier, she saw Dist's squad stationed on the lower floors. While they weren't known as the physically capable squad, they were good at discerning their surroundings. One slip and they would notice.

Arietta took one more peek to check the location of the soldiers and crossed sights with Dist. She froze on the spot.

"Hey you there. Yes, even you in the back," said Dist whilst his chair dramatically spun around. While no one was looking at the bridge, Arietta hurriedly crossed it. "Tell that woman that the greatest God General, would not waste his time with the guarding duty any longer. Perchance she asks for a reason for my desertion of post, inform her that— You in the third row dare to yawn while I am speaking. Don't you know—

Dist's voice faded in the background as she reached her portal of hope. She now stood at the door. Before knocking, Arietta promised to put in obscene amount of efforts to form a proper friendship with that selfish bitch after all this mess was over with. She _just_ had to get to the damn room and escape this Yulia Jue forbidden continent.

She knocked softly. Although Anise hated mornings, she was a light sleeper. It was a skill that came with the job. Still, the grumpiness said after abrupt awakenings never dissipated. Arietta became fully acquainted with said foul attitude when the door opened. It was matched with dark glare and a look that promised on the spot maiming.

Not intimidated by the sour greeting, Arietta spoke before Anise could butt in her complaints, "I need to escape Daath."

Confused with the sudden request Anise could only blurt an unhelpful, "Huh?"

"He needs help. A lot of medical help in as soon as possible. Just help me escape and I swear to stop being an insufferable bitch."

Anise shifted her attention to the boy on Arrietta's back. She promptly pulled Arietta inside the room by the collar. The sudden shift of the centre of gravity made her stumble on the floor. The landing was nothing close to graceful and probably twisted her ankle too. However, she prevented Ion from acquiring more injuries. The pain was well worth it.

"Anyone see you?" Anise inquired seriously. A trace of her previous mood was not visible whatsoever. Arietta was happy her acquaintance was willing to help her out.

"No, I prepped a distraction. Although, I am unsure how long it will last."

"Wheeeeew, good good. Do you know what happened to the person who last betrayed the order?"

Arrietta gave her female companion a quizzical look. "This isn't the time, he needs medical assistance now," she hissed.

"Yeah, yeah. I heard you and besides, you're over reacting. Aaand, we can't do much before my underling gets here. So bear with me? Yeah, good," Anise replied without really waiting for Arrietta's response.

"So, apparently there was another God General who was a candidate to become the commandant. This happened like, I dunno 6 or 4 years ago. But hear this, she vanished before the voting even started. I think her name was Cantabile? Not really important. But yeah, she just vanished. How crazy is that?"

"I don't get the point of this, just call your –

"Hey, at least let me finish. I already started it sheesh," Anise cut off Arrietta rudely. Her companion cradled Ion closer. She didn't know why Anise couldn't understand how urgent the situation was, but chose to tolerate it. If the bullshit didn't stop after this, she was going to figure things out by herself.

"Okay, wow you're so nice today. So where was I?— Oh what happened to Cantabile? Keep it under hush but, I heard a rumour about her. According to my reliable source of rumour, that Cantabile person stumbled on some cracked experimentation shit. She didn't like it and went to stop the disposal at Mount Zaleho."

A churn of worry and disbelief bubbled up in Arietta. By some bizarre coincidence, the story that Anise was recounting happened where she spent most of her time for the past couple of hours. The only difference was, she didn't encounter an experiment… or did she?

"Looked like I piqued your interest now," Anise smirked in a predatory manner. "She gets there– three solid knocks came to the door. "Oh, looks like I have to cut the story short but no worries," Anise got up and walked toward the increasing knocks on the door. "You'll experience what happens to shitty replica-lovers first hand." With a flick of her wrist, she opened the door and revealed Legretta.

"Hiya little traitor."

Arrietta's animal instinct overcame her senses. She was desperate to protect her charge. She didn't think anymore.

"Look at her," Anise cackled hard. "You do know the shit you're protecting is a cheap replica, right? Well, only stupid animals like your kind can't tell. Once you're in the dungeons, Ion is all _mine._"

* * *

And things start moving. So sad, all the scenes are in my head but it's ridiculously difficult to put it into words.


End file.
